Knapsack Park

The distinctive crack of a Whip Bird broke the stillness and promised us an interesting afternoon stroll as we entered Knapsack Park – a section of interesting bushland in Glenbrook with several tracks running through it.  This area contains a lot of early convict history and we chose the Olivet St entrance to do a round trip to Lennox Bridge and back, hoping the bush would give up it’s secrets of days gone by.

As we walked along the wide, open trail, a cyclist gave us a wave and fellow walkers were also enjoying this piece of bush close to their suburban homes. The afternoon sunshine lit up the old quarry - a large rock shelf of orange, brown and cream layers of sandstone, providing a fascinating spot to explore and an old eroded five trail took us through the quarry and up onto the escarpment. A flash of blue caught our eye as a pair of Superb Fairy Wrens leapt and danced with each other. The Rosellas darted beside us and Common Bronzewings fluttered along the path as we made our way out of the quarry, to the top. There is a maze of unsignposted tracks in this area, but by keeping to the main path you will soon come to a track on the right which leads to Marges Lookout. This is a curious old lookout with a huge tree providing some shelter as we looked over the plains below. The landscape here is covered with “Egg and Bacon” flowers, and this expanse of yellow dotted with bright red Mountain Devils and pale pink Grevilleas surrounded the path as we made our way along the cliff and down to Lennox Bridge.

Lennox Bridge is a quaint old sandstone bridge tucked away in the bushland of the Lower Blue Mountains. The Bridge is a semi circular arch bridge built in 1833 by David Lennox working with a team of convicts and took just 12 months to complete. It was the first of its type, and now the oldest remaining bridge on the Australian mainland. This peaceful spot is an inviting place for a break and an impressive place to explore. A multitude of birdcalls rang through the air and we drank in the serenity and watched Brookside Creek below. A Sacred Kingfisher landed on a nearby branch, its beautiful blue-green colours glistening in the light. The shy Eastern Spinebill also darted to and fro. This seemed like a birdwatcher’s paradise and as we made our way back along the creek a confident Noisy Friarbird gave us its performance. The frogs, hiding in the creek lined with ferns, croaked along with the birds. A bright Eastern Yellow Robin and a Golden Whistler also came and perched nearby and the ever-present Laughing Kookaburra watched with us as a large Eastern Water Dragon sunned itself on a warm rock.

This walk which should have taken us at most one hour, took about two as we couldn’t help but stop and watch the amazing wildlife around us, making this somewhat ordinary trail into a wonderful walk.

DH 

This article has been published in the November 2010 edition of The Mountains Blueberry.